Chianti @ To visit Greve in Chianti
Piazza Matteotti, hub of the ancient market place, is famous for its asymmetrical shape, terraced porticoes, historic shops, and small restaurants.We begin our visit from the
Church of Santa Croce which was bulk in the 19th century over the ruins of an ancient oratory: inside, there are a Madonna and Saints by Maestro di Greve and a triptych depicting the
Annunciation by Bicd di Lorenzo. In the centre of the square stands tie severe bronze statue of Giovanni da Verrazzano, the famous navigator who was in the service of Francesco I. It was he who discovered the bay of New York and the Hudson river, in 1524.
Verrazzano was born in Greve, in the castle that belonged to his family, in 1485. To realise this statue, in 1919 Italo Stecchi, the youngest cavaliere d`ltalia, had the idea of organising a village horse race. He had the horses run at full gallop from Sant`Anna to the church, exciting the souls of the betters.The money collected in this way paid for the artist, Romeo Pazzini, to forge the statue.
But the square commemorates, with a memorial plaque and a family coat of arms, the feats of another personage from Greve: Monsignor Giovanni Batista del Ciampoli da Greve. According to the historian Carlo Baldini, Mons. Ciampoli was a poet, composer of dithyrambs, and secretary of Papal brief secrets to Popes Gregory XV and Urban VIII. The favourite pupil of Galileo Galilei, he prepared the dialogue on the "Law of the Chief World Systems" with which, fatally, he forfeited his friendship with the Pope. ln fact he was charged with having misinterpreted, by mistaking them for an authorisation, "the Pope`s indications for the corrections to be made to Galileo`s work, above all on the incoming and outgoing tidal movements, with which the scientist intended to prove the movement of the Earth". As is well-known, "Urban VIII hurled abuse at Galileo`s `perverted` work and at the so-called `Ciampolata` [a play on Ciampoli`s name] which, in spite of him, had induced him to publish it"
THE FORMER CONVENT OF ST. FRANCIS in Greve in Chianti
From Via Roma, we travel the steep Via di San Francesco that leads to the Museum of Sacred Art of
Greve in Chianti. The Convent of San Francesco was built for the monks of Santa Croce at San Casdano during the first haif of the 16th century, at the beginning of the old road that led to Montefioraile. It was a hospice that was used as a stopover place for the Franciscan monks on their way from
Florence to Siena. After the temporary abolition, due to the Napoleonic laws, the monks left the convent for good. In 1866, the Hospice of San Francesco began to be used as a prison until 1927, and was then destined for use as a civilian residence. A convention stipulated between the Commune
of
Greve in Chianti and the Diocese of Fiesole was the initial step in setting in motion the project to realise a museum of sacred artThe Museum houses an important collection of paintings, sculptures, vestments and sacred furnishings. One of the most important works in the collection is located in its original position on the ground floor of the oratory: the magnificent polychrome terracotta ofca. 1520-1530, with Delia Robbian frame, representing the deposition of Christ from the cross, attributed to Santi Buglioni On the same premises are other precious works, among which are the Virgin between Saints Lucy and Anthony of Padua by Curradi, the Virgin of the Rosary by Francesco Boldrini; a I4th-century marble has relief representing St Francis; and a sculpture of painted stucco, attributed to Nanni di Bartolo, that depicts the Madonna and Child. Several sacred vestments are on display in the sacristy. This exhibition is completed by a rock
Chianti It is such that, following the recent restoration that ended in December 2004, someone attributed to the area the nickname of "Piazzale Michelangelo di Greve". In summer, open-air exhibitions, gatherings, and concerts take place there .... from `Greve in Chianti` ( Municipality of Greve in Chianti )
